Unionized mechanical contractors across Ontario entered 2022 with record levels of work in the ICI sector as government spending to improve air quality in schools, hospitals and other public buildings continues to pour in after a busy 2021, adding to private-sector work.
A recent report from Mechanical Contractors Associations (MCA) in Windsor, London and Kitchener-Waterloo indicated there was an average increase of close to 20 per cent in HVAC-related upgrades in schools, universities, medical offices and industrial in addition to health care facilities.
MAC contractors work with United Association (UA) members in the plumbing, steamfitting, HVAC/refrigeration and sprinkler-fitting trades among compulsory trades as well as pipe welders, gas fitters and others.
Ontario Pipe Trades Council business manager James Hogarth said they were all satisfyingly stretched to the limit.
“It’s an ideal situation,” said Hogarth.
“There’s an increase in work in southwestern Ontario, but that’s throughout the province. It’s a challenge meeting the demands, but we are meeting it and working hard as we move forward.”
Prior to the pandemic, air circulated by HVAC systems in institutional buildings would pump in approximately 10 per cent outdoor air, the MAC report explained.
Now, systems are being upgraded to optimize air quality, increasing outdoor air to 20 per cent or more, and in some cases up to 100 per cent.
The work requires such new supplementary equipment as energy-efficient heat pumps and energy-recovery ventilators as well as chilled water piping and expanded boiler systems.
The UA has 50,000 members in Ontario and almost all of them are working, Hogarth said, with outside help required.
“The whole industry is tight for manpower right at the moment,” he said. “We’re running around 95-per-cent employed throughout the province, but we also have hundreds of workers from the East Coast and some travelling in from the West Coast, working throughout the province.
“So it is at times a challenge, but we are meeting those challenges, and we’re working with our contractors to supply them.”
Windsor is experiencing a residential and infrastructure boom with the Mechanical Contractors Association of Windsor seeing a 15 per cent increase in member hours related to HVAC upgrades in schools, universities and medical offices in 2021. An additional 15 per cent increase is forecasted for 2022.
The Mechanical Contractors Association of London also saw a 15 per cent increase in member hours allocated to HVAC-related work in 2021, with 80 per cent of total hours devoted to jobs for school boards, hospitals and universities.
More of the same is projected for 2022.
Waterloo saw an average increase of close to 20 per cent in HVAC-related upgrades in ICI in 2021 with contractors active in schools, universities, medical offices and industrial plants.
The Mechanical Contractors Association of Kitchener-Waterloo reported a 25 per cent increase in contractors doing HVAC work in 2021 with more expected in 2022 in the public sector as well as in automotive and industrial plants and office buildings.
No UA trades are left on the sidelines, Hogarth said.
“When you’re going into retrofitting a building, schools, hospitals, it takes all the crafts because you’re retrofitting, you’re moving lines or putting in new equipment, so it is all included, sprinkler fitter as well,” he explained.
Hogarth acknowledged the work is coming during stressful times, with the pandemic subsided but supply-chain problems, rising costs and now the Ukraine invasion creating concerns.
“The stress level, obviously, increased during these times,” he said.
“The supply chain has not recovered fully yet…the price of gas is affecting everyone. We work with our industry partners, our contractors, as best we can.”
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